Applications are usually of interest to mobile users. Apart from random searching, a user in many cases would like to install applications according to recommendations by others, particularly by friends and colleagues but also by reviewers, bloggers, etc. For example, in local scenarios where people gather together, they may be curious in finding interesting applications in friends' mobile phones and sharing with each other those they would like to have.
In mobile platforms, most applications are not such simple portable software, though. The user usually has to download the installation file of the program and perform a new installation even it is already installed in friend's mobile device and even if the application is free (i.e. the cost is zero). In practice, getting the recommended application from others commonly involves following steps: 1) getting the name of the application; 2) launching an application market or store; 3) inputting the Application Name and starting searching; 4) screening the results for the targeted application and, finally, 5) selecting a ‘download’ or ‘install’ option. Some users may find this process to be inconvenient.
Some smartphones provided by Nokia, including the Lumia 920, provide a mechanism for sharing installed applications with other devices by NFC, email or social networks, which many users may find to be more convenient. An application is shared by providing a link to the application on the Windows Store. Application sharing by NFC is point-to-point in that a target device needs to be tapped onto the donor device (i.e. they need to be in contact. Application sharing by email or social network requires a data connection to the Internet to succeed, and so is not possible in situations when a connection to the Internet is not possible, and may incur data usage costs for the user.